Emergency declaration issued for 31 Oaxacan municipalities affected by the passage of Hurricane Agatha

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The Oaxaca government confirmed that an emergency declaration was issued for 31 municipalities affected by the passage of Hurricane Agatha last week.

“We had to walk for six hours to get all the way down here, our community is totally uncommunicated. We need hoses, tubes, water, food”, commented Marcelo Hernández, a municipal official from Santiago Lapaguía.

The roads to the rancherías and municipal agencies affected by the passage of Hurricane Agatha in the municipality of San Juan Ozolotepec are totally destroyed; mobilizing aid at this time by vehicle means crossing softened dirt and semi-destroyed roads.

In San Andrés Lovene, Santa Catarina Xanaguia, and Santiago Lapaguía, people have already taken on the reconstruction of their homes, like Pablo, who has spent days removing the land that was washed away from the property of his neighbor, into his property.

“There have been hurricanes, but not like this one. We were in a very dangerous situation, I left my house to save my life, and now I am getting out all the earth that fell into my patio,” said Pablo Hernández, a victim of landslides in San Juan Ozolotepec, Oaxaca.

We can only move only by foot.

“We come from Santiago Lapaguía, a municipality here in San Juan Ozoltepec. We don’t have a road anymore, there are no roads, they’re all gone,” said Marcelo Hernández, Santiago Lapaguía’s municipal official

On Monday, June 6th, the Mexican Army arrived in nearby areas by air to distribute food.

In the coastal municipality of Santa María Tonameca, the fracture of a bridge has isolated thousands of people who are demanding help, food, and water.

“On this side of the bridge, they have forgotten about us, Tigrero, Rincón Bonito, they are communities that are totally abandoned,” said Flavio, a victim of the El Progreso neighborhood, in the municipality of Santa María Tonameca.

“We are going to see if we can cross the bridge because, on our way to the other side of the river, a relative brings us water from another community,” said Lorena Reyes, a resident of Santa María Tonameca, Oaxaca.

Source: OEM

The Oaxaca Post